Eight years...
Eight long years...
It has been frigging more than half a decade since I last arrived here...
But I don't think anyone is going to believe my tales. They never did before. I was a lot more bothered at first but eventually I just decided to roll with the punches. I am a ninja afterall, always adaptable. To be honest I have been Wei Xiaobao for a longer time, then I had been Naruto Uzumaki. But I can't change my origins. My roots...and how they make me different from everyone else? I arrived in a place called Yangzhou immediately after my battle against my bitter rival slash best friend slash bloodthirsty enemy again Sasuke Uchiha. The battle took place at the valley of end. I still remember how Sasuke gave into the influence of the evil cursed seal placed on him by the snake bastard and took a monstrous form to battle against my kyuubi chakra enhancements, Well that didn't end up so well for me. For the love of my life I don't know what happened to me after I was hit by a flaring Chidori. I can't remember a single damn word.
Also the Fox seems to be asleep, I have tried wandering into the seal , cursing and yelling at him for many times but it just can't seem to wake up. No matter how much I try, it doesn't even blink . Next thing I knew I woke up in some sort of brothel called Li Chun Yuan, de aged to six from thirteen and no one couldn't understand a single word I spoke. Everyone kept looking at me all pitiful. This wasn't something he understood at first but it almost got to him as much as the looks of the people who tried to deny he existed. I resisted at first. As everyone back at Konoha could tell you very clearly, Naruto Uzumaki isn't the one to go down without a lots of kicking and screaming involved. Unfortunately my chakra reserves had been terribly depleted at the time, I nearly felt I lost the ability to manipulate chakra altogether. Even Bushy Brows can manipulate chakra, He can't do jutsus though but only push up and weight training can't give you that much power. Yeah, His hard-work was phenomenal and admirable, He really inspired me at times but without chakra, I doubt he would have been able to do the things he was able to.
Thankfully, My Chakra returned after a couple of years and even though I was mad at first, It turned out to be better that I didn't have my chakra reserves during the first few years in this strange new world. Which was long enough for me to realize just how shit out of luck I happened to be. No one around here had heard anything about Konoha or Elemental Nations altogether. For the longest time, people had thought that those names were just the result of trauma I went through because I was caught by some vile smugglers whom I managed to piss off somehow. At first I did think I was in some sort of enemy territory but after paying close attention to this world, I noticed some absurd things. some massive irregularities that I didn't think was possible in Shinobi worlds. This place was huge and I couldn't find any map on this god forsaken planet which could point me towards my way back home. But before that, I needed to adapt to this strange new world. A feisty but kind woman named Wei decided to adopt me and teach me at least how to speak and understand the language, with help from her son Xiaobao who went on to become one of my first friends in the strange new world.
There was a way back home. There must be. I knew it and I won't give up until I discover it. However in order to do that, I needed resources, I needed to arm myself with the knowledge of this world. Travelling required money and I was certainly not with money . Surrendering to my fate for the time being, I agreed to stay with "my" family under the guise of an odd kid with blonde hair and fox like whiskers
So guys this is it, I have brought you up to date in regards of my life.
...xxxxxxx...xxxxxx...
It was a nice evening in the spring, the lanterns were just lit, from each courtyard in the red light district came the sound of melodious flutes and happy laughter, mixed with shouts of people playing drinking game and ordering more drink, plus songs and drunken brawl. Music and wine were everywhere. A large banquet was being held even at the Li Chun Yuan brothel, place where Naruto or Huli as he was called by everyone around there used to live. About a dozen or so prominent salt merchants were sitting around three tables, a courtesan sitting next to each one of them. Unfortunately, their party mood immediately turned sour upon hearing the noise rising from all direction. Which belonged to a lot of people outside screaming in great confusion.
As soon as they heard the commotion, their countenance was greatly changed.
"What is it?" "Who is it?" "Are they policemen investigating a case?" they all wondered.
Suddenly there was the beating-drum-like sound outside the main gate, or perhaps the main gate itself was being beaten. The servants were so frightened that they did not know whether they should open the door. 'Bang!' the main gate was broken, about seventeen, eighteen big men burst in. These men were wearing short clothes, with plain white band tied around their heads and dark green belt around their waists. In their hands they held either a flickering saber, an iron club, or an iron stick. As soon as the salt merchants saw them, they recognized these men as salt smugglers.
"Everybody listen up. We are looking for a man, we are not interested in everybody else, please do not shout or move needlessly. If you do not obey our instruction, please do not blame us for being rude!"
Naruto rolled his eyes as he sat around in a corner enjoying his food. He was well aware that these salt smugglers' trade was usually limited to illegal salt, they neither robbed travelling merchants nor commit other crimes, they only dealt with common people and usually were quite fair, seldom using force. Today, seeing those smugglers breaking into this place carrying malicious air , the shinobi though they might have came here to settle a personal score. Which turned out to be the truth as a fifty something man stepped up announcing that he was looking for someone in Heaven and Earth society, a name he wasn't much familiar with. . Day in and day out this he went in and out of brothels , casinos, teahouses and restaurants, running errands and buying things for the customers, alongside his friend Xiaobao, by scrapping here and there, they were able to earn some money. And he remembered hearing about it during one of those trips.
Though he wasn't fascinated by the stories about heroes of the old and new like his friend, so he spent his free time training and refining his existing skills or learn how to decode this strange language enough to read maps and look for directions. He didn't like studying but had to learn at least that much to make sure he was ready for the journey back to Konoha.
When the man those smugglers were looking for didn't respond even after shouting for a while, their patience started wearing thin. An old man, supposedly the leader of this gang, "Go and search every room, if you see that coward surnamed Xu , invite him to go out. he is very easy to recognize." The salt smugglers complied loudly and immediately went from room to room to search for the man they were instructed to do so.
Suddenly from a room on the eastern wing came a rough yet fearless voice, "Who's shouting and rambling in here, disturbing people seeking merriment? You guys recklessly scolding Heaven and Earth society, it's not pleasing in my ears. Each of the members of society are heroes and You, salt smugglers, are not even fit to carry their shoes or wipe their butt."
Three saber wielding men wielding charged into the room , shouting and yelling indistinctly. However all of the, flew out of the room one by one and dropped to the floor followed by a loud painful yelp. One man's saber knocked his own forehead, blood flowed and he passed out instantly. Six salt smugglers charged together into the room, but with repeated cry every single one of them was thrown back out. These people continued swearing and cursing, but no one dared to enter.
Slightly interested about what was going on, Naruto stepped forward, toward the room, under the dim light he saw a big burly man with dragon-like whisker was sitting on the bed, his head was wrapped in plain white cloth. From what he could gather he seemed like a well experienced fighter. Though he could tell from seeing the surprised look on the old man's face this wasn't the person they were looking for.
From among the crowd of courtesans standing on the side, a woman, approximately thirty years old, someone he knew very very well, suddenly giggled. A salt smuggler rushed a step forward
'slap! slap!'
He immediately struck the courtesan whom had tears flowing for her eyes and nose. The courtesan was so scared that she did not dare to make any noise. "Damn it!" the salt smuggler cursed, "Stinky prosti..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, by the cup Naruto had been holding bouncing off of his forehead enough to draw blood followed by a kick under the chin that knocked him ten feet in the air.
He floated up in the air gracefully landing fully upside down on the ground on the back of his head, unconscious with a thud that had everyone looking at him in abject shock and awe at how quickly he had gone down. Looking up at Naruto they saw him picking up another bowl filled with soup as he glared at them.
"Keep your hands off my aunt, you rotten bastard."
Not happy being ridiculed by this young boy as well, one of the smugglers dashed towards him, attempting to grab Naruto, only for the little shinobi to hide behind another smuggler. With his left hand the first salt smuggler pushed the second salt smuggler, toppling him down in the process. He raised his right fist, To vent his anger, the salt smuggler punched the middle-aged courtesan. 'Bang!' the courtesan passed out instantly. However before he could bask in his victory, Naruto quickly jumped over his shoulders, without wasting any further moment and slapped him on his face, sending him rolling down on the floor after spinning twice. Needless to say, he quickly hit the wall.
The older man cast a glance to his fallen comrades before turning towards Naruto, " I apologize for my comrade's misconduct. We are the brethrens from the Green Gang; just because a friend from Heaven and Earth society by the surname of Xu insulted the Green Gang in public and said he would wait for us to settle the account here in Ming Yu district, we have come to look for him. Your martial arts is quite impressive young lad, please leave your name , so that when our Gang Leader ask, we can inform him about such talented youth and reward you properly."
Though before Naruto could respond, a boy around his age scrambled in and swore loudly, " What does my brother have to do with you? If he cursed at you for hitting our mother, just let it go, you'd better tuck your tail between your legs and continue smuggling salt quietly, making some money."
The former resident of Konoha just rolled his eyes with mild irritation, "Did you really have to barge in and create a scene, Xiaobao?"
"Ha! I bet you can easily take them on with one hand and leg tied behind your back."
Naruto let out a sigh and quickly addressed leader of the gang, "I have had enough of your shenanigans for today. Leave unless you want some."
"Sir! please forgive my son and nephew." The middle-aged courtesan called out in great alarm.
The older man pulled out a pair of about a foot long daggers from his waist and leveled his glare at both of them. "Now that you have crossed your limits, don't blame me for being unreasonable."
He raised his daggers and charged towards him with much more speed and ferocity than usual, though he was far slower than the likes of Kiba and Neji. And Naruto had trained his body to the point where he doubted even Rock Lee could take him on without using one of his gates. Quickly sidestepping his strike, he brought forth his left hand, a spiralling blue orb of dense energy forming into his hand, rushing out as quick as whip he slammed onto his back, several of the older man's ribs were broken as he was thrown outside the room, spurted fresh blood, and fainted on the floor.
The crowd of salt smugglers cried out and lifted their wounded comrades lying on the floor, While they were furious and wanted nothing but to beat this brat to day, they couldn't dare to challenge his might, looking at each other in shock, they bolted out the door.
I recently watched the old school movie Royal Tramp which also led to watching the 2008 and 2014 television series based on that as well. I found the series enjoyable and decided to write a story based on that.
Strange? More than likely
Do I care? not particularly. I am fairly new to wuxia genre so I had to give it a try more or less. If you want to recommend any series to read/discuss/write stories about feel free to comment or send me a message.
Ta da, Take care and stay healthy.